<<Print>>

Ghanaians were on Wednesday, March 10th, treated to a rare celestial phenomenon which occurred in the skies just before midday, when a circle of light was seen around the sun. The huge ring of red-yellow-green band of halo which circled the sun, was initially thought to be a rainbow. But in an interview with PEACEFM News, a Senior Meteorologist and Chief Forecaster at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Mr. Sewornuku Anthony, described it as a �halo phenomenon or solar halo.� �It�s like a ring around the sun�if it is around the moon, we call it Lunar Halo�,� he explained. According to him, it is formed in the Cirrus (high) clouds. �When the cirrus clouds are composed of ice crystals and then light passes through it, the light is refracted and reflected into various colours we see around the sun�that�s a halo phenomenon�it�s a matter of the sun going through a cluster of ice crystals through the clouds at that level..it�s around 5-10km above the earth�s surface,� he elucidated. Mr. Sewornuku further pointed out that the appearance of solar halo has no special significance. �It is only the design it creates around the sun which is intriguing�There is no empirical evidence to show that when one experiences a halo, the rainfall pattern will change in that particular area,� he said.